182 Rahma et al., Media Gizi Indonesia (National Nutrition Journal). 2023.18(3): 182–187 https://doi.org/10.204736/mgi.v18i3.182–187 NUTRITION EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE BASED ON BEHAVIOR CHANGE IN ADOLESCENT GIRLS TO IMPROVE NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND HEMOGLOBIN LEVELS Amalia Rahma 1* , Desty Muzarofatus Sholikhah 1 , Nur Cahyadi 1 , Endah Mulyani 1 , Diah Fauzia Zuhro 1 , Dwi Faqihatus S. Has 1 1 Universitas Muhammadiyah Gresik, Gresik *E-mail: amaliarahma@umg.ac.id ABSTRACT Inappropriate nutritional behavior is a common cause of nutritional issues among adolescents, often leading to conditions like underweight and anemia. This study aimed to assess the impact of nutrition education and behavioral change-based support on the nutritional status and hemoglobin levels of adolescent girls. The study included 75 adolescent girls aged 16-18 years from Singosari Village, Gresik District, chosen through purposive sampling. Over a 30-day period, intensive nutrition education and assistance were provided, utilizing various methods such as lectures, discussions, role play, and practical exercises. The results revealed significant improvements in various aspects. Participants exhibited increased nutrition knowledge, energy and protein intake, body weight, nutritional status, and hemoglobin levels after the intervention (p < 0.05). The rise in knowledge was linked to higher protein intake (p=0.009), while adequate protein intake was associated with weight gain (p=0.025). Weight gain, in turn, correlated significantly with improved nutritional status based on BMI/U (p = 0.041). Hemoglobin levels also significantly increased, shifting from 11.6 + 0.2 mg/dl (low) to 13.4 + 0.1 mg/dl (normal) after the intervention. This improvement in hemoglobin levels was linked to increased energy intake (p = 0.012) and a change in the practice of consuming iron supplementation, shifting from no usage to weekly consumption. In conclusion, nutrition education and behavioral change-based support can effectively enhance energy, protein, and iron intake, leading to improved nutritional status and hemoglobin levels among adolescent girls. Keywords: adolescent, education, assistance, hemoglobin, nutrition INTRODUCTION The nutritional status of women before conception is one of the influential factors during pregnancy and the health of the baby to be born. Malnutrition in pregnant women can be the cause of babies born having low birth weight and malnutrition in toddlers (Rahma and Nuradhiani, 2019). Malnutrition in pregnant women can also increase the risk of maternal death (UNICEF, 2018). The nutritional status and health of pregnant women are determined since adolescence or during their childbearing age (WUS) (Waskara, 2021). Currently, adolescents in Indonesia face three nutritional problems at once, including macronutrient deficiency (short and thin), micronutrient deficiency (anemia), and overweight (overweight and obesity) (Baroroh et al. 2022). Basic Health Research Data (RISKESDAS) in 2018 showed that the prevalence of short and very short in adolescents aged 13-15 years touched 25.7% while adolescents aged 16-18 years were 26.9%. Similarly, the prevalence of underweight and very thin adolescents, recorded as many as 8.7% of adolescents aged 13-15 years and 8.1% aged 16-18 years have underweight and very thin nutritional status. In contrast, the prevalence of adolescents with overweight and obese nutritional status aged 13-15 years was 16.0% and 13.5% aged 16-18 years. In addition to macronutrient problems, the problem of micronutrient deficiency such as anemia in adolescents in Indonesia is also fairly ©2023. The formal legal provisions for access to digital articles of this electronic journal are subject to the terms of the Creative Commons- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Received 18-11-2022, Accepted 07-08-2023, Published online 30-09-2023.